1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an organic electro luminescence (EL) element utilizing an electroluminescent phenomenon of an organic material and a light-emitting apparatus including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Transmission-type organic EL elements have been proposed as a front light illumination apparatus which illuminates a reflection-type liquid crystal display device from the front and an illumination apparatus disposed at a window. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-69581 discloses a configuration in which an organic layer and a transparent electrode layer are disposed on a stripe-shaped reflection electrode having openings.
A technology to reduce brightness variations in the emitted light in such a transmission-type organic EL element has been proposed. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2010-212169 discloses a configuration in which a reflection layer is disposed in such a way as to overlap an organic layer and this reflection layer is allowed to have a convex shape protruding toward the organic layer. It is mentioned that the reflected light can be scattered and applied to a wide area and brightness variations can be reduced by employing such a configuration as compared with those in the case where the reflection layer is flat. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-149376 discloses a configuration in which a scatter layer is disposed in the portion corresponding to a light-emitting region of a light-emitting surface. It is mentioned that the emitted light is scattered and brightness variations can be reduced by employing such a configuration.
However, as for the transmission-type organic EL element, a technology to reduce brightness variations by a simple configuration has been desired.